A Dreamworks film, Shrek is a movie about an Ogre who is trusted with the quest to rescue a princess locked up in a castle guarded by a dragon in a bid for his swamp back, which was taken by a fairy-tale hating lord.
You know, I would see these memes that would say something about how there was a missed underlying message to a movie or cartoon we failed to see because we were kids. Never thought I’d find mine.
Yesterday, after a productive and very successful week, I craved a bit of my childhood. I wanted to see Shrek and see Shrek I did. Well there’s all three parts available on Netflix, yet, the first one was and is still magical!
For a work so old (over two decades), going back to watch it again, I saw things that I didn’t see because I was a child. First, it has an amazing plot. Watching it again proved it by a mile. Shrek is one of the best animations of the “sane” times. Anyway…
One thing I saw was the very predictable reasoning some people have. The “waiting to be rescued” bit. Many people have that habit of thinking they have a saviour.
In a more practical sense, we have the “what we think love is” bit. Listening to Fiona count out what was “supposed” to happen, I realised that many people of this generation haven’t and can’t find love because they have an idolised version of what love looks like. Their mind is clouded by movies and fairy tales. Then we have those who have the opposite mindset because of the negativity surrounding them but that’s a story for another day.
Then we have Shrek. The perfect example of projection and self loathing. Listening to a simple conversation between two people brought out his insecurities. He was convinced that he was unloveable and the slightest hint of that from someone else set him off. He projected his view of himself on to another person which led to an even bigger misunderstanding.
Another thing was his lashing out. It was destructive not only to him but to people around him. Shrek had a toxic trait. I failed to see it then, but I saw it when he called Donkey “useless”, “pathetic”, and “annoying”. That again, was projection because that was how Shrek really felt about himself. He felt useless, pathetic and annoying. He couldn’t do anything right no matter how he tried because people would see him for what he appeared to be not who he was.
Oh! And that one liner he used that was brimming with “toxic masculinity”,
“well, if I treated you so bad, how come you came back?”
Ugh! That right there made me gag. Anyway, Shrek was toxic. That’s an established fact, and I’m off to watch the 2 and 3 to really see if he worked on those insecurities that made him so lethal.
And then we have Fiona being held by Farquaad’s guards and she just stood and be held. I’m sorry, where was the lady that went all Kung Fu on the men in the bush? See that saying, “I don’t seem to use my brain when he’s around”, definitely true.
I rewatched that scene over and over and, it didn’t make sense. She was held down by guys wearing heavy metal, and she was a big burly ogre with ten times the strength she had when she was as thin as a spaghetti on wheels. I guess she really needed that saving…
Oh! The soundtracks! Shrek has some of the best songs, timely and delivered! I enjoyed nodding my head to all of it.
Somethings never change though. Like my tick when I come across romantic scenes. Kissing scenes and all the romance what-not make me look away. That hasn’t changed, even with Shrek. I felt embarrassed watching that for some reason… lol. It can’t be just me.
Anyway, I’m glad I saw this movie again. I’m going to watch 2 & 3 now… maybe 4 & 5 later? I need to watch Shrek from this new point of view.
